Rebirth
by zuzuthezombie
Summary: Drabbles based upon the crew of the Icarus II
1. Chapter 1

Capa is spending way more time with you in the oxygen garden now that his precious Payload has been delivered.

You suspect that it's because he no longer has a fortress of solitude. You've got your garden, which sustains the correct amount of oxygen and CO2 that the ship needs to survive. Cassie and Koneda have the cockpit, making sure they keep a course for their now re-heating planet. Harvey has his own calm searching for signals. Trey has his navigator's room, keeping Cassie and the captain on the correct path. Searle has his observation room, and the infirmary, the psych for the Icarus II, so the crew doesn't go crazy. Mace had the inner workings to give him company. But Capa... the only reason Capa was on this mission was to detonate the Payload and make sure it was running smoothly. Now that it had been delivered, what was his purpose? So you didn't mind his presence in the gardens at all, mostly sitting on a sturdy shelf with the most beat up book you've ever seen. Sometimes you wonder if it's the only book he's brought along, because it's the only non-textbook or note thing you ever see him read.

Today Searle is in here too, because he has self-diagnosed that much more time in the observation room would be bad. Even though he always has a pretty terrible sunburn all the time, except where his sunglasses, once Capa's, protect that part of his face. So Searle has come in here for some time. He's already admired his bright snapdragon flowers, now trying to sneak some of Cassie's strawberries without anybody noticing. He's terrible at it; you're sure even Capa has noticed him stealing them.

"Capa," he speaks up, and the physicist looks up from the book with an alarmed squeak.

"Uh, y-yes?"

"You know, I've been thinking- I'm going to prescribe you half an hour in the Earth Room after dinner today," Searle is now munching on a bean he's plucked from some vines, apparently done pissing Cassie off. "What would you like? Clouds at sunset, perhaps?"

Capa has never been prescribed the Earth Room before, mostly it's Mace or Trey. You realize now that that's what the Payload must have been for him, his own Earth Room.

Capa tilts his head to the side, eyes going more vacant than usual, and you stop messing with your worms to hear what he has to say. It's Capa, after all. He just saved mankind. "Is this not an Earth Room, itself?" he says.

Searle lets out a soft: "... Huh." Then, "I'm going to be thinking about that over dinner, it's your turn to cook." and he sounds distant and awestruck as he leaves.

Capa gives a heavy sigh. He doesn't bother to mark his page as he gets up. "Would you help me maybe pick stuff out...?" he sounds so hesitant, and shy, and it makes your heart hurt a little, because you know whatever he makes Mace and Trey and Harvey will subtly complain about the food. And Capa won't pick it up, usually. He's Capa. And because of that, it makes you wonder why those three dislike him so.

"Of course," you say. And a tiny, grateful smile flits across Capa's face as you move toward the back wall.


	2. Chapter 2

You and Capa are floating in the Payload, Capa with his notebooks and textbooks and fancy mechanical pencils in a cloud around him. His hair, as does yours, hovers about his head like a black halo. There's music playing in the background, and you're not sure where it's coming from.

"Hey, Cory," Capa says softly to you. "What's up? Something you need?"

You shake your head. "No. I just... I just wanted to come visit."

"Heck of a visit, doesn't this place creep you out?"

You shrug. It does, in fact, creep you out, the seemingly endless realm of bleak grey boxes stacked all around you, not to mention the way they're stacked - creating dizzying drops every which way. Capa finds solace in this place, apparently, perched on the walkway doing whatever it is he does in here.

The next song clicks on, and, strangely, Capa starts to sing along:

'Imagine there's no heaven,  
It's easy if you try,  
No hell below us,  
Above us only sky,  
Imagine all the people,  
Living for today...'

"Capa, can we turn on a different song?" you ask. This one is creepy, to say the least. You know that the original song is meant to be a good message or something of the sort, but this version just sounds sad.

The physicist turns off the music completely, shoving away a thick textbook so he can face you better. "Corazon, do you feel safe in here with me?"

You're a bit shocked by this statement. "Of course I do, Capa, it's you. Why wouldn't I?"

"We're inside a bomb, Cory, listen to me. We depleted all of the Earth's fissile fuels to make it. It has a mass equal to that of Manhattan Island, big enough to have it's own significant gravitational field. We're going to reignite the sun, a star within a star, to save millions upon millions of lives."

He pauses, looking around at the geometric landscape, before continuing in a more hushed tone, "When the detonation sequence starts, first there will be a spark. It will split into two, and those will split, and so on. At that point, and at that speed going into a celestial being, time becomes irrelevant. I think it will be beautiful, Corazon. I'm not scared. Now, tell me - are you?"

"I... I think it will be beautiful too."

"That doesn't answer my question - are you scared?" Capa hooks his fingers into a space between boxes, launching himself over to the walkway where the control panel is, pulling out the key to start up the manual detonation sequence. He waits for your answer all the while.

"I am," you admit.

"It's okay," says a soft voice and a hand upon your shoulder. You startle, turning as best you can to face them. It's only Searle, and he gives an apologetic smile.

"You can talk to me about it," he assures, "Why are you scared? It's going to be amazing,"

"We're going to get a glimpse of the big bang," Capa echoes, inserting the key and turning it, the click echoing through the chamber. He deftly starts up the rest of the process, and you can see that he wasn't lying about not being afraid.

"Cassie," he says, turning to the girl, who you hadn't noticed before, "we're flying into the sun. It's just like my dream,"

A spark flickers above.

"Cory...? Corazon, are you alright?" a gentle shaking of your shoulder. Your body feels strange, and you stretch, feet hitting chilly glass and a hand brushing against cloth. Your eyes flicker open to see Capa, backed by beautiful pinpoints of light.

"You drifted off," he says, "thought I'd better wake you, it isn't the best to fall asleep in one of the bubbles."

You remember, Capa had let you into one of the zero-grav bubbles with him, and he had turned on his music, both of you content to just drift.

"I'm fine," you respond, suppressing a yawn.

A small smile, "Good. It's almost time to give the transmission anyways."

The fact that you're almost out of the dead zone makes your heart leap with joy.


End file.
